Leica R-Adapter-L experience


Peter C

New member
Anyone have any expereic=nce with this adapter?
Hi just read your question, yes I bought the SL body and was awaiting the Leica R to L adapter. I have had this adapter for over 12 months and I give it a 9.9 out 10.I found the adapter excellent with the R lenses and high Quality excellent if you have a few, I have since bought the native zoom lens the 28-90 mm SL lens it is very good also but I have found the R lenses I can actually focus much more crisply.
Just another note that if you are a previous owner of the R body and lens of the eight or nine, The Leica ever ready case 14527 fits the new SL and some of the R lenses and M lenses perfectly. A great way to get around when you just want to have one lens and camera body with not too much gear it’s perfect.
I also look forward to the day when the factory that write the software updates for the SL will find time to do further functions for the R lens to the SL. considering if you have the end of line lenses with the contacts on the back there’s no reason why the SL and lens (ROM )cannot communicate more clearly to give you greater functionality. So yes I know the adapter is a little bit expensive but if you have the R lens they’re to greater quality to let sit around with that camera (SL).
I have the 100mm f2.8 /50mm f2 / 28mm f2.8 / 15mm f2.8 all with Rom and greatly enjoy using all four lenses with the SL beautiful beautiful quality of photos.

Kind regards Peter
 

wbabbott3

New member
Peter,

Thank you very much for you sharing your experience. I have difficulty focussing my M lenses on my SL and wondered if the ergonomics of R lenses made that a simpler task.
I am particularly interested in R focal lengths over 100mm on the SL because I find the 90-280mm SL too large and heavy to carry around.
I had the same experience with the Vario 28-90 R. As a big fan of the Vario 35-70 R, I imagined that the 28-90 would be a blessing but I was wrong. It's size and weight ruined the joy of the 35-70 and I returned that triumph of the optical engineering. Just because you can doesn't mean that you should.

I'm considering a 180 and/or a 70-200 and Extenders to cut off some weight for SL needs greater than the 24-90 can handle.

I assume (and what is always dangerous!) that the R received aperture and shutter information through the ROM contacts and I do not see why an "intelligent" R-Adapter-L could not do that to meet SL computational and display needs, but I leave that to those more knowledgeable than me. Just saying.

I had an almost twenty year love affair with the R System, R4 to R7 (the favorite and last film R) and R9-DMR, the ergonomics of which I took great pleasure. Sadly, the SL did not follow in those R9 ergonomic footsteps, which the S did, to its benefit, IMHO.

Thank you for sharing your heartening experience.

Best regards,

Bill
 

Peter C

New member
Peter,

Thank you very much for you sharing your experience. I have difficulty focussing my M lenses on my SL and wondered if the ergonomics of R lenses made that a simpler task.
I am particularly interested in R focal lengths over 100mm on the SL because I find the 90-280mm SL too large and heavy to carry around.
I had the same experience with the Vario 28-90 R. As a big fan of the Vario 35-70 R, I imagined that the 28-90 would be a blessing but I was wrong. It's size and weight ruined the joy of the 35-70 and I returned that triumph of the optical engineering. Just because you can doesn't mean that you should.

I'm considering a 180 and/or a 70-200 and Extenders to cut off some weight for SL needs greater than the 24-90 can handle.

I assume (and what is always dangerous!) that the R received aperture and shutter information through the ROM contacts and I do not see why an "intelligent" R-Adapter-L could not do that to meet SL computational and display needs, but I leave that to those more knowledgeable than me. Just saying.

I had an almost twenty year love affair with the R System, R4 to R7 (the favorite and last film R) and R9-DMR, the ergonomics of which I took great pleasure. Sadly, the SL did not follow in those R9 ergonomic footsteps, which the S did, to its benefit, IMHO.

Thank you for sharing your heartening experience.

Best regards,

Bill

Hello Bill,
Sorry for my lateness in returning your email I’ve just had a day with the external hard drive WD struggling to get it to work as easy as they promised but it’s not.
So I moved away from the M class lens to the R lens simply because I did find that they are much easier to focus even though looking through a mirror or the new screen on the SL. The same with the M as with the R you can press the rubber toggle switch, the switch to maximise your focus, this is Available with the manual focusing then return back to the standard screen knowing that the focus is much sharper.
With the SL 24 to 90 lens I know it is much heavier but it makes a great travel companion instead of carrying a lot of equipment. I have the apo extender which I use on the 100mm R lens, this makes a wonderful combination to make it possible to have a very crisp images compare to using the zoom lens and much less weight. The extender gives me obviously 200 MM with 5.6 F stop, but I do have to manually tell the camera what I have done because it does not come up on the menu which I would love for the IT department to do an update on their lens information for the R.
Now using the R lens on the SL with the adapter unfortunately it does not give you a true aperture priority, they have removed the F number information from the screen so now I have to look over the top of the camera every time to see where my f-stop is that. Even when you have set your F stop to what you prefer the camera again unfortunately averages out the information and adjust the aperture to what it prefers, So that means we don’t have a true aperture priority which is unfortunate.
We only have manual after this aperture priority type setting no shutter priority,
Again even in manual we don’t see where the F stop on your lens, and again it averages it out so you really don’t get a true manual facility as well. So come on IT department please give the lens software that is needed to free it’s great potential.

Even with this inhibiting setback I still struggle and use it happily because I still am able to achieve the level of photos that I am trying to create, with regards to this again I would love IT department to hear what I’m saying by reading this email and do an update for the R lens considering that the SL has 10 contacts for the lens coupling where as the R lens has nine so we are not short of any contacts.
If they were to write a software to enable the R lens to be free from its inhibiting factors it would make the R lens reach the level of quality that it was intended with the our system, I cannot see why the ROM lenses are not updated with the software considering with the adapter the camera knows exactly what R lens has been fitted so with the contacts all the information from the ROM lens should be available to the SL. This then would make a stunning complete outfit.

Sorry Bill for my ranting about the software issues of the SL equipment, I still find the R lens much lighter than the SL native lens. I hope I have covered all your questions clearly and if there’s any more please send me another email.

Kind regards Peter.
 

wbabbott3

New member
Thank you very much, Peter. I too hope the IT people at Leica, if there be any, listen to your nice suggestions. I say "if there are any" because I have no idea whether the digital side of the Leica camera-lens interface is done in house as is the mechanical and optical matters. Outside digital folks would have no idea of the interface considerations we are talking about.
The promise of a suitable successor to the R line has simply not been fulfilled, IMHO, and making the L-Adapter-R more "R like" would be a big help.
My research tells me that a 180 with extenders would be a combo to look at and I am trying to get done. It would give a 180, 270 or 360 with not too much extra weight. I am also considering an extra, small, ASP-C or 4 thirds camera with a 100-300 zoom, but prefer the R approach for obvious reaso
Thanks again and I'll let you know how things go for me.
Bill
 

WIlsonLaidlaw

New member
I have been using the R adapter L for some time. I also have the M adapter L. I would say there is no difference in focusing between the two lens systems and I have no problems with either. I actually find my 0.95 Noctilux easier to focus in low light on either my SL or CL than I do on any of my M’s other than perhaps the M3. I have been using the MR-500mm Telyt-R plus 2X APO Extender-R on my SL, which is a surprisingly easy to use combination but needs a very rigid tripod.

Wilson
 

wbabbott3

New member
Wilson,

Thank you for sharing your experience, which makes me all the more interested in using R lenses with my SL. I can see that I need to go back and learn how to use the joy stick enlargement feature more easily.

I believe that you are the first person I ever heard of who actually uses the MR-500mm Telyt-R lens, much less with a 2x APO Extender-R. I can understand why at 1000mm you need a rigid tripod.

What I really would like the digital wizards to do is to create replicas of the M and R viewfinder presentations in the SL viewfinder so that the focus experience is the same as it was in those legacy cameras but I think there are only two chances of that happening, slim and none at all.

Best regard,

Bill
 

WIlsonLaidlaw

New member
Bill,

I bought the MR-500 Telyt-R not expecting much from it and I thought it probably would barely work at all with the APO Extender R. I was pleasantly surprised and it is at least as good as as my modular Tele-Tessar when being used at 1200mm. I understand that Leica made considerable efforts to make the refractive elements on the MR lens more apochromatic than the Minolta lens from which it was derived. In combination with the APO Extender the combination suffers far less from chromatic aberration at the edges of the image, than the Tele-Tessar. The catadioptric lens was even more of a bargain, as it had an apparently dead R4-MOT attached and thrown in for free. An hour’s or so’s work removing the top cover, to clean all the switch contacts, brought it back from the dead, with even a working and accurate meter. It had obviously seen little use as it is like new.

Wilson
 

wbabbott3

New member
Wilson,
That's a great story and a good lesson for all of us about luck and persistence .
I have never even seen any of the modular APO-Telyt R lenses other than in the Hove Leica Pocket Book, and I am glad to hear something about them from someone who uses them.
Aside from infrequently photographing airpanes in flight, I seldom even use a 90mm lens, so I am a short lens amateur.
Thanks for sharing,
Bill
 

wbabbott3

New member
Hi just read your question, yes I bought the SL body and was awaiting the Leica R to L adapter. I have had this adapter for over 12 months and I give it a 9.9 out 10.I found the adapter excellent with the R lenses and high Quality excellent if you have a few, I have since bought the native zoom lens the 28-90 mm SL lens it is very good also but I have found the R lenses I can actually focus much more crisply.
Just another note that if you are a previous owner of the R body and lens of the eight or nine, The Leica ever ready case 14527 fits the new SL and some of the R lenses and M lenses perfectly. A great way to get around when you just want to have one lens and camera body with not too much gear it’s perfect.
I also look forward to the day when the factory that write the software updates for the SL will find time to do further functions for the R lens to the SL. considering if you have the end of line lenses with the contacts on the back there’s no reason why the SL and lens (ROM )cannot communicate more clearly to give you greater functionality. So yes I know the adapter is a little bit expensive but if you have the R lens they’re to greater quality to let sit around with that camera (SL).
I have the 100mm f2.8 /50mm f2 / 28mm f2.8 / 15mm f2.8 all with Rom and greatly enjoy using all four lenses with the SL beautiful beautiful quality of photos.

Kind regards Peter
Thank you, I used an R camera for almost 20 years and loved it. I may have to re-acquire a few R less for my SL2.
Bill
 

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